this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: g7 finance ministers agree a deal to make big tech companies pay more tax. the post pandemic world must be fairer, especially with regard to international taxation. a uk health boss says the coronavirus vaccines have "broken the chain" between infection and serious illness. jamaica's shelly—ann fraser—pryce becomes the second—fastest woman in history with her 100m victory in kingston. and an unfriendly farewell: a chorus of boos for the first cruise ship to leave venice since the pandemic started.

hello, welcome to the programme. it's being hailed as a "historic agreement", that could see global governments make billions more in tax revenue. the deal, made by the g7 group of leading economies, could shake up the tax system for multinational companies like big tech giants. it could include a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to avoid countries undercutting each other. tech companies google and facebook have welcomed the move. our economics editor faisal islam reports. multinational companies, especially the big tech giants, have become more powerful than some governments — especially in their ability to pay minimal tax bills. today, the finance ministers of the seven leading economies,

the g7, hit back with an historic deal brokered by the chancellor, rishi sunak. i'm delighted to announce that today, after years of discussion, g7 finance ministers have reached a historic agreement to reform the global tax system, to make it fit for the global digital age but crucially, to make sure it's fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places. they agreed to the principle of a global minimum corporation tax of at least 15%, as well as rules to make the largest companies with profits of more than 10% pay more tax in countries where sales are made, not just where they declare their profits. the us had initially wanted a higher minimum rate of 21%. what do you say to those campaigners who say 15% isn't really going to bite, isn't going to be the transformative change? we have yet to set the final rate. there is an agreement

among the g7, though, to go for at least 15%, and i do think that's an historic achievement. foryears, campaigners and european finance ministers wanted this change, but it was unthinkable, up until a few months ago. it's the pandemic that has changed things, requiring finance ministers around the world to have to fill coffers emptied by a year of lockdowns, but also the change in the american government as well, creating a window of opportunity. now, they need to get the rest of the world on board. the proposals must now go to the wider g20 group, including china, russia and brazil, then the rest of the world. the german finance minister hailed today as an important step, even if difficult conversations lay ahead with countries whose tax rates are below 15%. i'm sure that the decision that has been made today is — will be very successful. this is a train that already started and anyone willjoin the train. ireland's rate of corporation tax is 12.5%.

isn't this notjust about a corporate tax rate but the end of a low tax business model for your country? we will, even with an acknowledgement of the change that is coming, continue to have the kind of legitimate policies in place in ireland that deliver a competitive approach for ireland and allow us to grow and retain employment. google and amazon have said they support the work being done to reform tax rules. so has facebook, which acknowledged it could end up paying more as a result. this deal is a product of very different times — an opportunity taken in a crisis by the world's big seven. the americans are also using this meeting to urge the rest of the world, despite worries about higher borrowing and rising inflation, to carry on pumping financial support into the recovery, or risk undermining it. faisal islam, bbc news, at the g7. a health boss in england says the decision on easing restrictions on the 21st ofjune is finely balanced. chris hopson warned

that the delta variant, first discovered in india, is still spreading but he said vaccines appear to be breaking the link between coronavirus cases and serious illness. our health correspondent naomi grimley reports. it's the big question of the summer — can hospitals still cope with the numbers of people who'll fall seriously ill with covid—i9 before the full effects of mass vaccination are felt? hospital admissions are well below the levels we saw in winter and today, one of those representing health trusts appeared to strike an optimistic note. it does look as though the vaccines have kind of broken the chain between catching covid—i9 and potentially being very, very seriously ill and potentially dying. bolton is the area hit hardest by covid's more transmissible delta variant, first discovered in india. looking at what's happening in hospitals is a gauge

to whether the nhs in general will be able to cope. this graph shows the number of covid patients in bolton's hospitals over the last few months. you can see there are high peaks in november and again in january and february. in the last few weeks, the figures have been rising again, but they are nothing like those earlier peaks. more mutations could be incorporated into the delta variant that could mean that vaccines are less effective and thatis vaccines are less effective and that is really what we want to avoid. the worst—case scenario for us is a variant that is both more transmissible and resistant to vaccination. opinions in the scientific community remain split. perhaps the only thing everyone

can agree on is that more data is needed. naomi grimley, bbc news. western diplomats in nigeria have expressed disappointment at the government's decision to suspend twitter. a joint statement from the us, eu, britain, canada and ireland said the right to free expression and information was a pillar of democracy in nigeria. the row started after twitter removed a tweet by nigeria's president muhammadu buhari, saying it breached the social media platform's rules. the government accuses the social media platform of "undermining nigeria's corporate existence". mayenijones reports. on saturday morning, twitter users in nigeria woke up to find that they no longer had access to their accounts. that's using most mobile phone networks. on wi—fi, you could still access the website and the hashtag #thankgodforvpn has been trending, suggesting many users have managed to find a way to use

the website by using virtual private networks. the nigerian government had announced on friday that it had planned to suspend all of twitter�*s activities in the country. at the time, it was unclear what they meant by that. it seems that they have now decided to block access to the website. the telecoms companies that operate in nigeria released a statement, saying that they had received a directive from the government to suspend twitter and that they had complied, but they did say that they followed the united nations provisions on the freedom of communication and that they agreed with those. twitter users in nigeria have been very angry. they say that this is undemocratic. nigeria is africa's largest democracy and many see this as a step backwards for the country. many also pointing out to the fact that president buhari was a military dictator in this country in the �*80s and they see this latest move as a continuation of that legacy.

twitter has issued a statement. they say they are deeply concerned by the suspension of their services in nigeria and they say they will work towards reinstating a service for its users here. there are about 150 million internet users in nigeria and according to the authorities here, just over 60% of those use twitter, so it is a huge market for the social media company. it will be really desperate to try and rebuild relationships with the government. for a little bit of context, this has happened because twitter deleted a post by president buhari earlier this week. they said it breached its rules in that post. many nigerian users flagged it because they felt it was a threat to a secessionist movement in the south—east of nigeria. let's get some of the day's other news. un secretary—general antonio guterres has expressed outrage at a suspected jihadist militant attack in burkina faso.

at least 132 people have been killed in the north—eastern village of solhan in the sahel region of the country. three days of mourning have been announced. the president of el salvador has told attendees at the bitcoin 2021 conference in florida that he'll make the cryptocurrency legal tender in his country, alongside the us dollar. if congress backs his proposal, el salvador would become the first country in the world to formally adopt bitcoin. thousands of people have marched through budapest to protest against controversial plans to open a multimillion—dollar chinese university campus in the hungarian capital. they say the project will undercut the country's own higher education and increase the influence of china's communist authorities. the right—wing government of viktor orban has close ties with beijing. former us president donald trump has returned to the stage to address the republican faithful for his first speech in several months as he considers a new presidential run in 202a.

organisers at the convention of north carolina's republican party said the event was a sell—out, with all 1,250 tickets sold. although mr trump has been cut off from social networks, many republicans still see him as a valuable asset ahead of midterm elections next year. it's a disgrace what is happening to our country. the survival of america depends upon our ability to elect republicans at every level, starting with the midterms next year, we have to get it done. we have to get it done. we have no choice, actually. a us federaljudge has overturned california's 32—year—old ban on assault weapons, calling it unconstitutional. he's given the state 30 days to appeal. california's governor condemned the ruling, saying it is a direct threat to public safety. robyn thomas, executive director of giffords law center

to prevent gun violence, told us the case may go to the supreme court. i certainly expect that gun rights abacus, the lobby and the gun industry who would love to be selling many more assault weapons to many more americans would like to go to the supreme court because they will do anything they can to convince people to buy these guns. this is what drives a lot of the momentum this litigation is the desire to sell more guns and to encourage americans that they need these very, very lethal weapons in order to be safe when, in fact, weapons in order to be safe when, infact, having weapons in order to be safe when, in fact, having these kind of weapons on our streets endangers the safety not only of our communities but of your own family. many, many of these mass shootings that happen in our society happen because of unsecured assault weapons left in the home, like the sandy hook shooting. this is bbc news. our top story this hour: g7 finance ministers say their agreement to reform the global tax system will help end a race to the bottom

on taxation and help fund the economic recovery. let's stay with that now. i've been speaking to stephaniejohnston, chief correspondent for tax notes today, which is a news service for tax professionals. i asked her how significant she thought this agreement is. it's a sort of depends on who you ask, landmark in the fact that countries are able to, the seven largest economies are able to agree on something so major but not so much that, it's not the final word, let's say this, because you know this agreement, this plan still needs to go to 139 countries to consider it and then to the g7 for g20 consider it and then to the g7 for 620 inaudible likely consider it and then to the g7 for g20 inaudible likely agreed to this plan. for 620 inaudible likely agreed to this plan-— to this plan. crosstalk. i see, so still heaps — to this plan. crosstalk. i see, so still hoops to _ to this plan. crosstalk. i see, so still hoops to jump _ to this plan. crosstalk. i see, so still hoops to jump through i so still hoops to jump through but are likely do you think something approximating what we have heard about today will actually come into force? well,

olitical actually come into force? well, political agreement _ actually come into force? well, political agreement i _ actually come into force? well, political agreement i think - actually come into force? well, political agreement i think is i political agreement i think is very likely because there is, this project has gone on for so long and the issues at stake are so high and this problem has been, these problems that these agreements have been trying to address have been going on for years and decades so countries agree that you know are changes needed to the national tax corporation system and you know multinationals also agree that changes and countries have, just need a stable, a way to not only raise revenues but also state my stack system which is very badly needed.— stack system which is very badly needed. 0k, minutes of this say it _ badly needed. 0k, minutes of this say it does _ badly needed. 0k, minutes of this say it does not _ badly needed. 0k, minutes of this say it does not go - badly needed. ok, minutes of this say it does not go far- this say it does not go far enough, having a for example 15% minimum tax rate, it is too low for some people.— low for some people. right, eah, low for some people. right, yeah. so _ low for some people. right, yeah, so that _ low for some people. right, yeah, so that is, _ low for some people. right, yeah, so that is, that - low for some people. right, yeah, so that is, that is - low for some people. right, yeah, so that is, that is a i low for some people. right, | yeah, so that is, that is a big sticking point i think but i think we also have to really recognise and take a step back and think you know based on major company, major corporations, and major economies, talking about, you

know, global minimum taxation which was really unthinkable a decade ago, i mean, istarted thisjob a decade decade ago, i mean, istarted this job a decade ago and to think that countries could even get to some close agreement to a goal on taxation and even a profit reallocation profits, among countries, that was unthinkable, decades ago, so... crosstalk. i unthinkable, decades ago, so... crosstalk— crosstalk. i see it as a step towards. _ crosstalk. i see it as a step towards. you _ crosstalk. i see it as a step towards, you know, - crosstalk. i see it as a step towards, you know, what - crosstalk. i see it as a step towards, you know, what a i towards, you know, what a change, so...— change, so... that's a difficult. _ change, so... that's a difficult, that's - change, so... that's a difficult, that's reallyl change, so... that's a - difficult, that's really good to hear and it's important to keep the context in mind and with that in mind still, there is a lot of cynicism from lots of people, saying actually these big companies have an army of people behind them, trying to find the most tax efficient arrangements for them and that will continue?- and that will continue? well, i thinkthings. _ and that will continue? well, i think things, generally - think things, generally speaking, anyone can, you can assume that rules were meant to be not broken but bent. i mean, i would kind of gas that

companies will... fits —— let's say there will be lots of work for lawyers and tax journalists. now with just 1.5 months before the olympics this summer, jamaica's two—time olympic champion shelly—ann fraser—pryce has become the second—fastest woman in history, after running 100m injust 10.63 seconds. ms fraser—pryce beat the 10.72 seconds run by shacarri richardson earlier this year, and is second only to florence griffith—joyner who has held the world record since 1988. johanna gretschel is a sports journalist in texas and long—distance runner herself. she gave me her reaction to ms frances—pryce's feat. wow! incredible! 10.63, we have not been a time like this in 33 years and the fastest they have run this year the fastest is 10.7 to 30 take delaney time —

leading time down by that much is something definitely no—one saw coming and bodes really well. , ., ., well. 6iven her age, how unexoected _ well. 6iven her age, how unexpected is _ well. 6iven her age, how unexpected is this? - well. 6iven her age, howl unexpected is this? well, well. 6iven her age, how- unexpected is this? well, 0k, she is 34 _ unexpected is this? well, 0k, she is 34 years _ unexpected is this? well, 0k, she is 34 years old, _ unexpected is this? well, 0k, she is 34 years old, so - she is 3a years old, so obviously a little more advanced than your typical elite athlete but she is really part of a larger trend where we are seeing women not being able to continue their athletic careers into their late 30s. and something we have not mentioned yet but i'm sure we will get to, she also recently had a child just a couple of years ago and was already able to come back from childbirth in 2019 and win the world championships in the 100 metres from that, and was able to change her colloquial nickname from the pocket rocket, which is called because she is very

short, around five feet tall, to the mummy rocket! she drawls that mum strength that sometimes when women go through childbirth and are able to make that big jump back into athletic fitness they are also able to gain some kind of unprecedented athletic games and inner strength that wasn't there before. at 3a, she is more advanced in age than a typical elite athlete but i think it is a larger trend that we will see, especially at this in the big games because it was delayed for a year, from 2020 because of the pandemic, there may be some athletes it would have retired last year are able to stay in the game and prolong their athletic career. just briefl , their athletic career. just briefly, looking - their athletic career. just briefly, looking ahead i their athletic career. just briefly, looking ahead to the athletics and the olympics, what are her chances? shelley and is a favourite, _ what are her chances? shelley and is a favourite, for - what are her chances? shelley and is a favourite, for sure, i and is a favourite, for sure, and is a favourite, for sure, and there was a lot of talk about richardson, coming out

blazing this year, running 210.7, but10.63, shelley and fraser—pryce is definitely cementing her place as the favourite. — at from a sprint to a long distance trek that's captured the imagination of millions of people across china. a herd of wild elephants that has been moving northwards over the course of several months. they began theirjourney in a nature reserve in yunnan province and, after 500km, they've now reached the outskirts of the city of kunming. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. day after day, week after week, month after month, the elephants are on the march. 15 of them, heading northwards, for reasons known only to themselves. occasionally, the smaller members of the group need a helping hand or trunk, to get them on the way.

translation:— to get them on the way. translation: ,, . ., , ., ., translation: such a situation has happened _ translation: such a situation has happened for— translation: such a situation has happened for the _ translation: such a situation has happened for the first i translation: such a situation has happened for the first time | has happened for the first time in history and it hasn't happened before and many are thinking about the reasons and they are to be observed and studied. it they are to be observed and studied. , ., . ., , studied. it is not in clearly - syntactically _ studied. it is not in clearly - syntactically when _ studied. it is not in clearly - syntactically when the i studied. it is not in clearly - i syntactically when the odyssey began but some suggest they set out as early as december, the animals forging a trail through the chinese countryside, occasionally straying into towns and villages, even helping themselves to something to eat as thejenny peter greste. translation: 6reste. translation: , ~' 6reste. translation: , ~ ., ., ., translation: they like to go do areas frequented _ translation: they like to go do areas frequented by _ translation: they like to go do areas frequented by humans i translation: they like to go do areas frequented by humans as i areas frequented by humans as there are plenty of food. the asian elephants take that as habitat. , ., , ., habitat. the elephants have caused thousands _ habitat. the elephants have caused thousands of - habitat. the elephants have caused thousands of people habitat. the elephants have i caused thousands of people to evacuate homes, block off road and trotted your them away from the pope relation but they have now reached a major city of more than 6 million people. what they plan to do next is anyone's guess! tim allman, bbc news.

dozens of people are facing fines for taking beach sand and shells from the italian island of sardinia, where it's illegal to remove the island's natural resources. authorities there say the investigation is ongoing. so far, 41 people are facing fines of up to 3600 us dollars each. our news reporter courtney bembridge has the details. they are basically looking for tourists who may be unwittingly or maybe on purpose are flouting the local laws, which restricts local people from taking pebbles on the beach, or any beach sand, sardinia is famous for the pristine white sand and people are taking it away and each summer they put the operation in place to try to stop the practice and stop people taking it home with them. ~ , ., people taking it home with them. , people taking it home with them. ~ ,~ , them. why are people taking sand from — them. why are people taking sand from a _ them. why are people taking sand from a beach? - them. why are people taking sand from a beach? you i them. why are people taking sand from a beach? you may remember. _ sand from a beach? you may remember, lewis, _ sand from a beach? you may remember, lewis, holidays,| sand from a beach? you may i remember, lewis, holidays, that thing we used to do! i guess people wanted a souvenir of these trips so what they would do is finish an empty water

bottle, fill it up with sound and other customs officials are using x—rays to find these things in people luggage and notjust a things in people luggage and not just a little things in people luggage and notjust a little bit of sand, there was a french couple in 2019, found with a0 kg of sound in the back of their car and said it was no idea that it was illegal in sardinia but were facing a penalty at the time of six years injail. so it is taken very seriously. the fine is up to 3000 euros, and there are a1 people who have been caught in this latest operation and they are trolling these websites where these bottles of sand are getting really high prices.... sand are getting really high prices- - - -— prices. . .. the people are buying. _ prices. . .. the people are buying. i _ prices. . .. the people are buying. i can _ prices. . .. the people are buying, i can understand| prices. . .. the people are i buying, i can understand taking a bit of sand, i don't know why you do it but you can take a bit of sand to remind yourself of a holiday but you are saying there is a market for this sand as well? ., , as well? that is right. there is a market _ as well? that is right. there is a market online _ as well? that is right. there is a market online and i is a market online and authorities are saying you are high prices for the sand and i guess when you outlaw something, perhaps its value

increases. so, now there is a black market fourth sand, pebbles and rocks but the locals are thick of it. they have been complaining for many years that teachers are being degraded by the practice and they have actually set up a —— that the beaches are being degraded, so they are making sure it is being returned to the specific beach and using a facebook group to corral each other, and it is called sardinia robbed and plundered. staying in italy, and the first cruise ship to leave venice since the pandemic began has set sail. while people are keen to get back to normality, not everyone was happy about the ship entering the giudecca canal. rachel stanton reports. no big ships! that is what is on the flag being waved here in venice. people have taken to the streets and waters as they are concerned about the impact

cruise ships have on their historic city. back in march this year, italy's government said cruise ships would no longer sell past venice's san marco square and dock away from the centre but be diverted to the centre but be diverted to the industrial port however, the industrial port however, the infrastructure is not yet in place for this to happen. this is the msc orchestra, set to cruise around the mediterranean with about 650 passengers. but residence in residence in venice have been urging the government to ban large cruise ships from the green over safety and environmental concerns. we are citizens of _ environmental concerns. we are citizens of venice _ environmental concerns. we are citizens of venice and _ environmental concerns. we are citizens of venice and we - environmental concerns. we are citizens of venice and we are i citizens of venice and we are against — citizens of venice and we are against this passage but also against — against this passage but also against this passage but also against this type of tourism model— against this type of tourism model that is destroying the city and _ model that is destroying the city and is pushing out residents and people that want to live — residents and people that want to live here.— to live here. arrival protest took place _ to live here. arrival protest took place in _ to live here. arrival protest took place in support i to live here. arrival protest took place in support of. to live here. arrival protest| took place in support of the resumption of the tourist season as many have suffered

financially as well as losing livelihoods. in the last two decades, the picturesque city has become one of the world's most important cruise destinations and people are keen for things to get back on track. . , ., ., ,., track. venice is a home port. this is where _ track. venice is a home port. this is where many _ track. venice is a home port. | this is where many itineraries begin or end. this means that two things, firstly, the economic impact on venice is huge. the other thing is that, well, basically, there is a risk that if venice is taken off the itineraries, all the adriatic will suffer the consequences of this. so, yeah, it would be a huge impact. the battle to stop _ it would be a huge impact. the battle to stop large vessels from being in these waters is far from over. from being in these waters is farfrom over. the government said it is organising bids for a viable alternative outside the lagoon, relieving the traffic through venice.

rachel stanton, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones this is bbc news. goodbye. hello. the weather on sunday is going to be a little hit and miss, particularly across england. you're likely to have a lot more cloud around, compared to saturday, and there will be a few showers around, too, but across scotland and northern ireland, i think it is a case of sunshine right from the word go. on the satellite picture, you can notice this little lump of cloud drifting out of the south—west. it is a weak weather front, joining a big area of low pressure to the north but that will bring some showers to parts of wales, and england, from morning onwards. this is what it looks like through the early hours. you can see some rain affecting parts of devon, dorset, into wales, midlands, the stray shower in the north of scotland but, generally speaking, a clear night

in scotland, northern ireland, probably the lake district as well, but many of us in england and wales will be waking up to overcast skies and it could actually stay like that through the afternoon as well but i think the biggest chance of catching some heavier showers further south into the midlands but also around wales and east anglia the best of the weather on sunday, northern ireland, scotland, the lake district should be fine as well, but modest highs, 16—18, in the south. despite the cloud and the showers, still managing around 21 in london. there is the clock, 8:00pm, 9:00pm still some showers around around in the evening across parts of england and wales. not a completely dry day but, with a bit of luck, you will have some prolonged sunny spells instead of heavy showers. monday, also likely to be some showers around, particularly across northern and eastern areas of the uk, so the best of the weather, although hazy at times, out towards the west but decent enough temperatures —

around 22 in london, 20 in liverpool, probably nudging up to 20 in glasgow as well for monday. then, the rest of the week, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, we'll see the jetstream low pressures and weather fronts mostly between scotland and iceland, but the chance that some of these weather systems will clip the very far north—west of the uk. in the south, it is closer to their high pressure so, basically, the further south you are, the better the weather will be in the week ahead, further north, dry generally, but always a bit more cloud. that is it for me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the g7 group of advanced economies have reached a deal to make multinational companies pay more tax in the countries where they do business. finance ministers meeting in london agreed to a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to avoid countries undercutting each other. a senior nhs official says the uk vaccination programme appears to have broken the link between cases of the covid—19 —— appears to have broken the link between cases of covid—19 and serious illness or death. the head of nhs providers says people in hospital with the delta variant of coronavirus are significantly younger, which puts less strain on critical care. the nigerian government has defended its decision to suspend twitter, saying the social media platform had been used to spread misinformation that had violent consequences. a joint statement from the us, the eu, britain, canada and ireland said the right to free expression was a pillar of democracy.

now on bbc news, click.